I just recently got a lawn tractor and was going to buy a core aerator
attachment, since it's been years that the lawn was aerated. But is it
also necessary to dethatch first?

Recently on Ask This Old House Roger Cooke rennoavted a lawn by first
dethatching, then core aerating, then sweeeping compost over the site
and reseeding. I thought that aeration was intended to take care of
thatch to a degree.

FDR said:

I just recently got a lawn tractor and was going to buy a core aerator
attachment, since it's been years that the lawn was aerated. But is it
also necessary to dethatch first?

Recently on Ask This Old House Roger Cooke rennoavted a lawn by first
dethatching, then core aerating, then sweeeping compost over the site
and reseeding. I thought that aeration was intended to take care of
thatch to a degree.

How thick is the thatch layer?
--

Eggs

-It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

On Sep 10, 4:53*am, Eggs Zachtly wrote:
FDR said:

I just recently got a lawn tractor and was going to buy a core aerator
attachment, since it's been years that the lawn was aerated. *But is it
also necessary to dethatch first?

Recently on Ask This Old House Roger Cooke rennoavted a lawn by first
dethatching, then core aerating, then sweeeping compost over the site
and reseeding. *I thought that aeration was intended to take care of
thatch to a degree.

Aeration will help reduce thatch, but won't help as much as
dethatching. As per Eggs question, key here is how much thatch you
have and if it's enough that it's an actual problem.

I would disagree with Roger Cooke on doing both dethatching and
aerating at the same time. Both of these tear up the turf to some
degree, dethatching more than aerating. So, I would do one in
Spring, other in Fall, to give the turf time to recover.

Don't know what kind of aerator you're looking at, but I'd get one
that is really a core aerator, ie it takes out actual plugs, as
opposed to solid tine type. I think for most people, it makes more
sense to just rent one every couple years.








How thick is the thatch layer?
--

Eggs

-It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

wrote:
On Sep 10, 4:53 am, Eggs Zachtly wrote:
FDR said:

I just recently got a lawn tractor and was going to buy a core aerator
attachment, since it's been years that the lawn was aerated. But is it
also necessary to dethatch first?
Recently on Ask This Old House Roger Cooke rennoavted a lawn by first
dethatching, then core aerating, then sweeeping compost over the site
and reseeding. I thought that aeration was intended to take care of
thatch to a degree.

Aeration will help reduce thatch, but won't help as much as
dethatching. As per Eggs question, key here is how much thatch you
have and if it's enough that it's an actual problem.

I would disagree with Roger Cooke on doing both dethatching and
aerating at the same time. Both of these tear up the turf to some
degree, dethatching more than aerating. So, I would do one in
Spring, other in Fall, to give the turf time to recover.

Don't know what kind of aerator you're looking at, but I'd get one
that is really a core aerator, ie it takes out actual plugs, as
opposed to solid tine type. I think for most people, it makes more
sense to just rent one every couple years.

It would be a core aerator that pulls behind the tractor.








How thick is the thatch layer?
--

Eggs

-It ain't the jeans that make your butt look fat.

Eggs Zachtly wrote:
FDR said:

I just recently got a lawn tractor and was going to buy a core aerator
attachment, since it's been years that the lawn was aerated. But is it
also necessary to dethatch first?

Recently on Ask This Old House Roger Cooke rennoavted a lawn by first
dethatching, then core aerating, then sweeeping compost over the site
and reseeding. I thought that aeration was intended to take care of
thatch to a degree.

How thick is the thatch layer?

In my opinion not very thick. But I'm no expert

Like this one?
http://www.landpride.com/products/pr...prod_ca25.html
If so, that will get it done very well.
Many of the "pull behinds" are only solid spikes, which don't do much good.


FDR wrote:
It would be a core aerator that pulls behind the tractor.

[top-posting fixed]

newsreader said:

FDR wrote:
It would be a core aerator that pulls behind the tractor.

Like this one?
http://www.landpride.com/products/pr...prod_ca25.html
If so, that will get it done very well.
Many of the "pull behinds" are only solid spikes, which don't do much good.

Solid spikes do a fine job, for what they were designed for. That wouldn't
be aeration, rather cross-cutting.

--

Eggs

Do Amish people get one phone call when arrested?

newsreader wrote:

Like this one?
http://www.landpride.com/products/pr...prod_ca25.html
If so, that will get it done very well.
Many of the "pull behinds" are only solid spikes, which don't do much good.


FDR wrote:
It would be a core aerator that pulls behind the tractor.


Yeah, like that one. But that one sure looks heavy duty.

"FDR" fdr@kjdfgkdfkl wrote in message
...
newsreader wrote:

Like this one?
http://www.landpride.com/products/pr...prod_ca25.html
If so, that will get it done very well.
Many of the "pull behinds" are only solid spikes, which don't do much
good.


FDR wrote:
It would be a core aerator that pulls behind the tractor.


Yeah, like that one. But that one sure looks heavy duty.

I locally rent a tow behind core aerator every fall.
The aerator pictured in the link is for a tractor with a triple hitch, not a
lawn tractor or mower.